New Study Shows More Standing Benefits for Men Than Women

New Study Shows More Standing Benefits for Men Than Women New research on standing at work has interesting pros and cons.

We like to keep you updated about the news concerning the top standing desks for the money, standing desk trends, and all associated benefits – which is we were particularly interested in a new study from The American Journal of Epidemiology on the limitations of standing desks.

The study is a large one, encompassing more than 7,300 people who work at least 15 hours a week in various industries. These workers were divided into groups based on how much sitting and how much standing that their jobs entailed. Then researchers studied their health, specifically their risk of heart disease.

The result wasn’t great for those who stand during their jobs: The research showed that those who stood around all day were about twice as likely to be at risk for heart disease as those who sat down for most of their jobs.

The primarily reason appears to be how blood flows through the human body: when standing, more blood tends to flow down into the legs, which means that the heart has to work harder to pump blood all the way back up, which can exacerbate heart problems.

Hold on – there’s a big difference in standing benefits between men and women.

All right, let’s see how much of this can be applied to standing desks. First, this study does appear to be pretty reliable. It tried to take into account other factors, such sociodemographics and work variables, which is a good sign. However, there are a couple very important caveats to note here before you start shopping for the best rated office chairs again.

Notably, the results were different between men and women. Like, really different. According to the study, a combination of sitting and standing led to higher cardiovascular risk for women, but a lower risk for men – no explanation for this was offered, but it does seem like a pretty important point if you’re a guy. Of course, with adjustable standing desks you typically have an option to sit whenever you want as well, so they are well-suited to this combination.

We will also point out that there are contradictory studies which say that not only can standing desks provide health benefits, but they can also increase productivity. So hold onto your standing desk for now…just don’t feel pressure to spend all day standing when a portion of sitting back also be good for your health.